Four crewmembers abandoned a burning Danish-flagged fishing vessel in the Skagerrak on the afternoon (local time) of Sunday, October 18, and were picked up by a boat launched from the cruise ship AIDAnova.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Southern Norway coordinated the rescue. It said none of the fishing boat’s four occupants was reported injured.
Smoke had been observed from the vessel shortly after 15:00 on Sunday, rescue coordinator Per Ivar Austnaberg told VG. He later said both smoke and flames had been seen.
Austnaberg confirmed the recovery of all four occupants at 15:35.
The incident occurred in Norwegian waters between Denmark and Norway. Christer Haven, a press adviser at the Danish Defence Command, said the Norwegian coastal rescue service led the response and that a Danish helicopter remained on standby the burning vessel.
A rescue helicopter dispatched from Sola in Norway reached the scene at 15:23. It turned back once the crew were accounted for.
Color Line's ferry SuperSpeed 1, en route to Kristiansand, was directed towards the area along with other nearby civilian vessels. The ferry was released shortly after 15:30 and resumed its route.
One passenger told Dagbladet he estimated the crossing was delayed by one to one-and-a-half hours.
The cause of the fire is not known. The fishing vessel has not been named, and the nationalities of the rescued crew have not been disclosed.
